Sunday, 12 February 2012

Yet another work of BBC 'analysis'. As propaganda for the islamist cause this article is quite good. It purports to report on the doubtful side whilst pushing Gannouchi's moderate statements no doubt made to tell western journalists exactly what they want to hear.

"The green lawns of suburban London appear to have been more than just a base for Mr Ghannouchi. He once famously declared that Britain embodied the values of his ideal Islamic state more than most Muslim-majority nations - a shocking statement at a time when many Muslim ideologues saw the West as a mortal enemy.

"The state should not have anything to do with telling people what to wear, what to eat and drink, what they should believe in”

Rashid Ghannouchi

"We consider that a state is more Muslim, more Islamic, the more it has justice in it," he says.

"When people asked me why I came to Britain, I explained that I was going to a country ruled by a queen where people are not oppressed and where justice prevails."

"His views have always been considered quite liberal," says Maha Azzam of the Chatham House think tank in London. "

Doubts are also expressed by those who worry that Islamist leaders will turn on Israel. When questioned by the BBC about Israel's right to exist, he didn't answer directly - saying instead that Israel has a duty to make peace with the Palestinians. "

I spent exactly one minute on Google finding out what exactly Gannouchi has to say with regard to jews and Israel.

In a May interview with the Al Arab Qatari website, for example, Ghannouchi called for the destruction of Israel and expressed optimism that the Jewish state would disappear in the very near future.

The Arab Spring "will achieve positive results on the path to the Palestinian cause and threaten the extinction of Israel," Ghannouchi said. "I give you the good news that the Arab region will get rid of the bacillus of Israel. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas, said that Israel will disappear by the year 2027. I say that this date may be too far away, and Israel may disappear before this."

Ghannouchi has also blessed the mothers of Palestinian suicide bombers, defended rocket attacks carried out by Hamas against Israeli civilians and "martyrdom operations," and called for Muslims to fund and provide logistical support for Hamas.